A Tale to Tell Twice
by Tamwood A. MacBurrl
Summary: It starts with chance and ends with worlds colliding. Can these two groups of people deal with the trouble that's sure to follow?
1. It begins

Hi there! This story is Co-Written by Devontis and myself!

We own nothing of either universe, they belong to their respective owners.

Flames are not appreciated, but critiques and reviews are always welcomed.

Thank you for reading!

Chapter 1

What's This?! Chaos Unfolds!

The sun was shining brightly down on the Strawhats as they made their way across the Grand Line. Their navigator, Nami, was keeping the ship on a steady course towards their next destination. The shipwright, Franky, was down below the decks, making sure the ship was still working properly after a small skirmish with a few pirates they met along the way. It also gave him the excuse to tinker with new gadgets and gizmos.

The cook, Sanji, was busy in the kitchen making exorbitant amounts of food for the crew, seeing as most of them (namely the Captain and Swordsman) chowed down through tons of food beforehand.

The doctor and sniper, Chopper and Usopp respectively, were busy tinkering with a few new attacks for Usopp and creating a few small medicines for Chopper to heal the crew.

The master swordsman, Zoro, was taking a nap in his usual spot, in the crow's nest, away from the nuisances of his nakama.

The historian, Robin, was lounging out in the sunlight in a chair, reading an old book she and the Crew had found a while back.

The musicians, Brooke and Rikyu, were keeping the crew in a calm mood, Brooke through his violin and Rikyu through the use of his singing. Thanks to them it was relatively peaceful throughout the ship.

This leads off to where the captain of the whole ship was, sitting in his favorite spot and looking out ahead on the ship's head. The captain's name was none other than a now infamous Monkey D. Luffy, captain of his crew, the Strawhat pirates. "Sanji? Are you done now? I'm so hungry!" Luffy whined as he now laid back on the head, his body all spread out.

"Give me one moment! I'm still cooking the meat for you!" Sanji yelled back as he moved quickly around the kitchen, getting food prepared.

"But I want food now!" Luffy yelled back as he tried to stretch his arm to snag some meat that he saw, only to be kicked back by Sanji.

"Says the idiot who tried to eat all our food in the middle of the night! Wait until the food's done, damn it!" Sanji berated Luffy as he started cooking the meat.

"Oi! Idiots! Keep it down will you? I'm trying to navigate here!" Nami yelled at them both, looking a bit irritated.

"Of course Nami-swan!" Sanji replied cheerfully.

"Fine…" Luffy eventually groaned out as he lay back down, looking bored.

Rikyu rolled his eyes, seeing as the crew was as calm as they could be. He then looked up and saw a curious site: pieces of a ship floating overhead, as if there were a river right above their heads. Usopp looked up as to why there were strange shadows overhead before he screamed and ran around in horror. "NOT THE FALLING SHIPS AGAIN! OR THAT GRAVEYARD! WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN TO US?!" Usopp yelled.

"Will you calm down? It's not falling on us. Though it is a bit odd for it to be just simply floating above us like an air river," Robin commented as she looked up for a brief moment.

Nami looked at the Log Pose and immediately screamed. "I-It's going completely out of control! This is a Log Pose too, so I don't even know how it's acting up like this!" Nami yelled as she looked all around, only increasing in volume when she saw the floating pieces of ship above them.

Rikyu exchanged a glance with Zoro before he sang a few strong calming notes, which managed to keep them quieted and go from scared to curious.

"Now that we settled that, let's not worry, hm? After all, the pieces floated past us, without faltering. While I must admit this is odd, it didn't try to fall on us or stop at all," Rikyu pointed out, also pointing at the pieces of the ship, which then fell into the sea well behind them.

"Cool! Mystery ship pieces!" Luffy exclaimed as he tried to jump after them.

Everyone yelled at him and pulled him back quickly, Nami being the loudest and to give him a bump on the head. "Idiot! Remember, you can't swim at all!" Nami yelled at him while Luffy begrudgingly agreed to leave the pieces alone.

"Hey everyone! Land ahead! Though it looks like a very strange island," Franky shouted from the crow's nest.

"Eh? Strange island?" Zoro walked over to the front and looked, a bit dumbfounded at what he saw. The rest of the crew came to quickly join him soon, Luffy sitting on the head of the ship and staring in awe at the sight.

Zoro and Franky were both correct in thinking that it was a strange island. For you see, it looked like someone had a disjointed idea of a paradise and gave up a part of the way through to focus on something else. One section could be seen having a tropical blizzard, while another part looked like it was made entirely from sweets. The land itself looked to be a bizarre combination of water and land, looking a bit like a mirage, yet looking too real for it to be the case.

In short…"It's a mystery island!" Luffy cheered as he tried to lean forward to see even more.

"Well, it's certainly a creative island. Though I don't think this was exactly on the map for the Grand Line. Otherwise, someone would've said something about it. Unless it was like Skypiea, of course," Rikyu observed the island with fascination, wondering if he could make a song about it.

"My heart is pounding with excitement! Though I don't have a heart…" Brook joked as he looked on the island.

Usopp stared at the island in wonder and exclaimed, "I couldn't even come up with a story describing this island!"

Zoro, Robin, Franky, and Sanji all looked on the island in varying states of curiosity, though Robin did wonder how such an island could both exist and not be heard about before.

"This looks like a fun island to have fun on!" Chopper happily cheered as he stood beside Ussop.

A chuckle could be heard from behind the crew and instantly they all turned, not recognizing the voice and readying their weapons. "Such a friendly crew~ But whatever shall I do~" The voice giggled, sounding very masculine and playful as the crew looked around, not seeing anyone.

"Oi! My hat! It's floating away from me! Give it back, mysterious voice!" Luffy instantly went from happy to angry as indeed, the hat floated a few feet above the water.

It was then that a figure emerged, his appearance as if water were slowly running down him. A wild grin with shadowed eyes and spiky red hair could be seen first, followed shortly by a red shirt and jacket, then finally red pants as the figure chuckled, the straw hat resting on his head.

"A pleasure to finally have some visitors. I was beginning to wonder if I should move my island again," The figure giggled as the hat then grew a small pair of legs, walking on thin air as it then jumped back onto Luffy's head, the legs disappearing as it rested.

Luffy then smiled wide, his hat finally back on his head and said, "Thanks mysterious red guy! Who are you anyways?"

Robin stood up and joined the rest of the crew, looking at the red figure with a look of small recognition and asked as well, "You seem familiar somehow… Who are you?"

The figure chuckled as he snapped his fingers, floating onto the deck of the ship with a wide grin and replied, "My name? Well, if you really want to know… I could always trade it for something red. Or a green apple, if you have any. They are a favorite of mine, and yet I can't seem to get any to grow."

The crew looked on in confusion before shrugging at the odd request. Luffy stretched out a hand and grabbed an apple from the kitchen before pulling it back and holding it out to the red figure.

"Here you go, mystery red guy! You really must like these apples and red, huh?" Luffy asked.

The figure chuckled and nodded, taking the apple and quickly munching through the apple, core and all, much to Chopper, Luffy and Usopp's excitement and to Robin's ever-growing curiosity.

"Thanks for the apple. But a deal's a deal. My name… would be Disarray Royalwind. Now, who might you lovely people be? It's been awhile since I've seen such friendly pirates," Disarray grinned as he relaxed against the air. The curious thing was, it was as though there were a wall where he was leaning up against, even though it was just thin air.

Robin's eyes widened slightly as she recognized the name, though tried to remember why as Luffy introduced the crew to him, giving a small wave hello when Luffy introduced her to him.

Disarray looked at Robin curiously before moving on quickly, chuckling at the enthusiastic captain.

"A pleasure to meet the crew of the Strawhat Pirates, captain included. Now, who would like to rest a bit on my island? I know that I made a resting spot somewhere…" Disarray thought as now it was nighttime, even though it looked like it was afternoon judging from the sky.

"What the- I thought it was afternoon!" Nami looked up and saw the sky, seeing it darkened like a night sky.

Disarray shrugged and said, "Time here is quite fluid. I think it was about 3 o'clock for a long while at one point before rapidly shifting to 2 o'clock in the morning. Lucky for me, I can sleep easily during the day and night."

The crew looked at each other in confusion, wondering how that could be the case before they looked back at Disarray in confusion.

Robin then spoke up, slightly terrified and horrified. "I-I know you! You were there at Ohara and I kept seeing you as I tried to avoid being captured!"

The crew looked worriedly at Robin and Disarray now, slowly readying their weapons as they stepped back a bit.

Disarray slowly melted from excitable to more sorrowful and angry. "Ah yes… I was wondering when you would pick up the connection. We just arrived and you've figured it out just now. You should know better than anyone that the dead stay dead. Yes Robin, I am truly alive and well."

Robin shook her head and took a step back. "You… you were one of the researchers there. You worked mainly on the history of Devil Fruits and how they worked before…" She stopped as flashbacks of the destruction flashed in her mind.

Disarray nodded and chuckled a bit sadly. "You always were so curious about that. I was so close to figuring it out too… Unfortunately, without an actual Devil Fruit to work with, I couldn't further it much further… And I could only work with so much with actual Devil Fruit users… Even self-experimentation only gave so much information before it became too much of a price to study."

Franky raised an eyebrow and asked, "Self-experimentation? You mean you're a Devil Fruit user as well?"

Disarray nodded and grinned at Robin, jokingly saying, "Do try and figure it out, Robin. A smart girl like you should know exactly which one would be the most fitting for me."

Robin thought about it for a moment and gasped before nodding. "A Paramecia fruit that wasn't recorded until you wrote it down a few days before… that. The Chaos-Chaos fruit."

Konoha- the Land of Fire

Late morning Team 7 gathering

Mission start

Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves, was peaceful. Very few people were out, mostly civilians or shinobi who had missions. The warm languid air was filled with the sounds of the village waking up, and the surrounding forestry rustling with life.

Smells of cooking food drifted lazily on soft currents of wind and families were getting ready for school or work. Shops were slowly opening up, neighbors greeting one another with mellow greetings.

Puffball clouds dotted a warm sky, the day promising heat and eventual humidity. Many would get their warrants done soon or they would wait for late evening since by midday it would be far to warm to do much of anything.

Truly, for many it was the start of a beautiful day.

For Masika, it began as a day like many others. Warm, slightly cloudy, and a mission from Tsunade to go see how things in Ame were progressing with the alliance.

The open gates let in a cool breeze, gently ruffling through her hair and it carried through the Village hidden in the Leaves lightly, providing a cool comfort on a soon to be hot day. She, along with Sai, meandered through Konoha, taking their time to reach their meeting point. Perfectly content in one another's company, they made for a tranquil picture as they walked. Both were quite relaxed, knowing that soon enough that they were be on full alert as they commenced their mission, so the down time was taken in gratefully.

Team 7, herself as an honorary member (sans Sauske) met in front of the gates of Konoha just as the sun hit its midday zenith in the sky. Noon and already almost too warm to be out and about for many; Sai, Masika, Yamoto and Sakura were there on time, Kakashi and Naruto seemed to be running late. As per usual.

Sakura greeted her teammates with ease, happy to see that Sai and Masika were getting along so well. "Good afternoon guys. You ready for Ame?" She, with most of the ninja population, knew just enough about Sai and Masika's relationship to consider them attached at the hip. It made Sakura smile though: she definitely approved of Sai and most certainly loved the fact that Masika had done wonders with Sai's communicative skills. Maskia's influences were tell-tale to those who knew what to look for.

Yamoto chuckled slightly. "Hello to you Sakura. Ame is Ame." he shrugged lightly, a bit amused.

Ame wasn't exactly a favorite amongst the shinobi population. Actually for most of Konoha this was the case.

The wood style specialist knew a bit more than the average shinobi about Sai and Masika. He was also appreciative of Masika's efforts and Sai's progress. He noted the easy intersections between the two- body language was telling enough for a seasoned ninja like himself.

Masika grinned and signed out 'Obviously! I miss Ame...ah, so much water to play with.' Her grin made Sakura grin and shake her head and Yamoto snort. Obviously Masika was the exception when it came to the Village of Rain.

"You would be happy about that. Sai?" she turned her attention to the pale young man and he nodded slightly, standing close to, but not touching Masika.

"Ready. Our illustrious leader and dickless?" His flat tones could be considered offensive, but Sakura knew it was simply because he was preparing himself for the mission.

Yamoto had to cover his grin at Sai's words. Some things wouldn't change it seemed.

Masika smothered her grin at Sai's description.

Sakura made a disgruntled face. "Late. I didn't see either of them while I was on the way…" She looked around, green eyes searching, trying to see if she could spot either of them.

Masika flapped a hand, obviously amused, as her electric blue eyes twinkled merrily. 'Oh, I have a feeling Naruto is grabbing some last minute ramen, and Kakashi-sensei…well…need I say more?'

Sai grinned a cat's grin. She wasn't wrong.

Yamoto rolled his eyes. "Fair point indeed." he agreed dryly. He was well aware that his silver haired friend often got lost of the road of life. Mind you, if that ceased to be, something was terribly wrong.

Sakura threw her hands up, knowing the other young woman was right. "Gah! Figures!"

Naruto came dashing up, quite winded. "H-here Sakura-chan!" He wheezed, trying to regain his breath as he leaned on his knees. "Ramen-!" He managed before Sakura rolled her eyes and noogied him semi-affectionately.

"Oh you baka! Let me guess, you packed some for the trip?"

Naruto gave his signature fox-like grin and he rubbed his head sheepishly.

Masika grinned full out, clearly laughing. Even Sai looked slightly amused, something both the Kyubi container, feisty medic and ANBU Captain were thrilled to see. Masika had done wonders.

Kakashi finally made his entrance a hand shifting through his own hair in a rueful way. "Ah, sorry-sorry, I got held up by an old lady who-" He gave them an apologetic smile as Sakura huffed at him and folded her arms.

"Kakashi-sensei, you should know better." She grumbled, green eyes rolling slightly.

Naruto just grinned at his old teacher and waved slightly not bouncing in place as he would have done when he was younger.

Yamoto grinned and patted Kakashi's shoulder. The obscured joinin have his subordinate a quick eye crinkle smile. Kakashi then nodded to Sai and Masika. "Hey you two." He gave them his famous one eyed grin.

Sai nodded and Masika waved cheerfully. 'Hey Kaka-sensei!'

"So. We're ready?" The silver haired jounin asked easily, hands settling into his pockets deftly.

Five heads nodded and he beckoned slightly. "Alright. Let's go." With an easy leap, he was in the trees, and the other five followed, just as silently as their commanding officer.

Within a moment, it was as if no one had been there, the gates silent once more, and empty.

That was one of the beautiful things about being a ninja, leaving no trace.

With their team leader in the lead, Sakura took the left, Naruto took right, Masika was in middle of the formation, Yamoto stayed even with Kakashi and Sai was bringing up the rear. For all intents and purposes, it looked as if Masika was the weak one, but only those who would underestimate the slight girl would think such a thing. It was well known that Masika could hold her own against Sakura, which astounded so many.

In the team with a Root member, a former ANBU, an ANBU Captain, an apprentice to one of the legendary Sanin and the demon container of the Nine-tailed fox, Masika was often overlooked. Not that she minded; it simply gave her more opportunities to get under people's skin and whatnot. It really was quite advantageous for the whole team to have Masika overlooked.

It meant they often got a hold of more information than usual because of Masika's interrogators skills. Tsunade approved enthusiastically, as did Ibiki, much to everyone's shock.

Kakashi glanced back to everyone. "It's a pretty direct route to Ame, but Tsunade has reasons for sending us instead of some other team."

That got several brows to lift, each one wondering what the deal was. Yamoto already knew and let Kakashi take the lead on that topic, knowing the aloof copy nin was going to let them work it out for the most part.

Kakashi was going to let them work it out on their own. However, he'd enlighten them if they took too long; something he'd had to do less and less as they got older and wiser. He didn't say it often, but he was proud of his team. They had gotten stronger and smarter, each figuring out their strengths and weakness through their training and teachers, and they worked to improve constantly. That also had the added benefit of making them extremely formidable.

It was something that was finally beginning to percolate through the other Villages. Team 7 was top notch and not to be taken lightly.

This hopefully will be updated twice a month

No promises though, as college and work come first, kay?

Thanks for understanding!


	2. Chapter 2 En Rout

Chapter 2

A Meeting of Chance? More History is Revealed!

Everyone looked at Disarray in shock and surprise, Robin being one of the most surprised and shocked. Disarray nodded at that, chuckling slightly as held out his palm, an illusion of a mark of chaos appearing in it.

"You would be right on the Beri, Robin. It's true, I found the Chaos Chaos fruit during my travels abroad and it was only sheer luck I managed to bring it back without any pirate or Navy man stealing it along the way. There were a few close calls, but the fruit made it to the island. Actually studying the fruit was out of the question at the time, since I had no way to figure out HOW it worked, so it came to be that I came to be the Chaos Man, able to bend reality to a limited degree," Disarray expositioned as the mark shifted to a red and blue mango.

"B-Bend reality? Wh-What do you mean by that?" Usopp shakily asked, horrible thoughts running through his head.

"Care to answer, Robin? After all, you helped me with my notes," Disarray grinned at Robin, who was slowly becoming less surprised but still looked shocked to the core at finding a survivor from that terrible tragedy at the hands of the World Government.

"The Chaos-Chaos fruit allows the user to turn anything into anything, seawater the only exception both ways," Robin summarized.

"Eh? I don't get it," Usopp stroked his chin, trying to understand how that made sense.

"To put it this way, I can turn a tree into a giant lollipop, but not into seawater, and I cannot change seawater at all into anything. Regular water is just limited to other liquids, so if I turned a stick into a puddle, I can only change that puddle into something liquid, like cola," Disarray explained.

"Another downside to the fruit is that there's no telling what it might turn into. Usually it's a random object that it turns into. He would have to actually focus his Devil Fruit if he wanted something specific, best explaining why this island is so bizarre and strange. From a further look around, it probably took him months in order to turn a small island into his own little paradise," Robin observed as she looked around.

"That would also be because I can only change so much at one time. Probably the biggest thing I can change to and from is a decently-sized tree or small ship. So don't worry, your ship won't be able to change overnight from my Devil Fruit," Disarray explained further.

"That sounds so cool!" Chopper exclaimed excitedly, thinking of random things that could be changed into other things.

"There was that one big catch though…" Robin continued, looking now worried.

Disarray immediately caught on and shook his head. "Robin, it's been forever since THAT happened. Trust me, it's not a problem anymore."

Nami looked at the pair questioningly, asking, "What exactly are you two talking about? It seems pretty bad if Robin's worrying over it."

Disarray looked at Nami and sighed. "If you really want to know, ask Robin later and more in private. It's her story to tell. Oh yeah, before I forget, where's that boy with the straw hat? I think he disappeared a little while ago."

The crew looked at the spot Luffy was last seen at and groaned a bit at seeing him completely gone, along with Zoro.

"I swear, they always leave during important things like that. Please tell me you don't have any monsters here and know where most of the meat is," Nami bemoaned.

Disarray chuckled nervously. "Well… I was doing a few experiments on the local wildlife that was here and… may or may not have made hybrids of fearsome predators… and released them in the tropical blizzard…"

The whole crew, except Sanji, Robin and Franky all screamed in fear, Robin actually giggling a bit while the other two were just accepting it as is.

"It seems you haven't changed a bit, Dissy," Robin giggled even more at his red face from using that little nickname.

Sanji looked a bit ticked off at that. "Oi, leave Robin-chan alone! Don't get any ideas!"

"Bu- Wha- I didn't do anything! She's known me longer than you, she made up that nickname for me!" Disarray pouted back.

"D-Dissy…" Brook, Usopp and Chopper both sweat-dropped at that.

In the darkest shadow of the trees, a pair of red eyes observed the crew carefully, trying to figure out who was the greatest threat that had to be eliminated first. From its observations, it could see that the cyborg and the blond haired man looked to be the strongest of the group present and the rest were either too weak or cowardly to do much of anything to it. It silently chuckled as it zoomed off towards the sweets part of the island, wanting to get a look at the captain.

At the sweetened part of the island…

"This is so cool! So many sweets here! Maybe I can eat it all without Sanji having to yell at me!" Luffy cheered as he jumped into a giant cake, munching down on it as fast as he could, enjoying it to the extreme.

"Man that Dis is really cool! I wonder if he has lots of meat… I'll ask him later after I'm finished with the cake!"

While Luffy was eating, the shadow was observing from a nearby tall ice-cream that was cherry-flavored. It seemed to it that this captain was a complete and utter idiot and would've left right away… if it weren't for the fact that this captain looked like it was the strongest out of any of the crew members. It knew that a small possibility was still a valid one, if the tiger-geese were anything to go by. It would observe the last crew member next before making any final decisions. With that in mind, it slithered away like a black snake, easily able to find the man due to the path of defeated monsters that were left behind.

Deep within the tropical blizzard…

"Tch, these monsters are starting to be a bit annoying," Zoro spoke as he took the sword from his mouth, sheathing it as the nearby monsters around him looked either dead or very wounded. "Still, they are interesting to fight. Not very challenging to fight, but still interesting." He then looked around and tsked, soon finding a cottage in a small circle of normalcy, with nicely trimmed grass and an overall feel of home to it. "Eh? This must be that red guy's house. Where is everybody, honestly? Did they get lost or something?"

He eventually shrugged and walked on inside, finding a bottle of sake to drink. He grinned as he soon downed the bottle and explored the house, finding strange things along the way.

The red eyes soon found itself following this green haired swordsman, chuckling silently as it observed the man. This was a powerhouse to be dealt with almost immediately, for sure. The swordsman managed to cut down some of the fiercest monsters on this island without breaking a sweat. Luckily, it didn't find the true monsters, hidden away in storage. It soon found a dark corner in an unused room and waited patiently. It would soon come to be time for it and its master to be reunited to show these mortals the TRUE power of the Devil Fruit.

Back with the rest of the group…

"So! Who's hungry? I've got a cottage out around the center of the tropical blizzard that has enough rooms to hold everyone for the night too," Disarray grinned as he saw Chopper and Usopp both raise their hands excitedly while the rest of the group nodded. "Very well then. Hold on to yourselves! Chaos Chaos Teleport!" Disarray cackled as the air around them turned red and quickly shot them all off towards his cottage.

Chopper, Nami, Usopp and Brook were, of course, clinging to Disarray, screaming for dear life while Sanji, Franky and Robin all tried to keep a calm expression as they quickly found themselves at his cottage.

While the whole group was cooling down, Disarray from using his power while the rest of them from experience, Robin and Nami both took note of what kind of weather was in the area, which was to say…

"T-This whole place is… normal?" Nami questioned as she pried Usopp from her.

"It is quite odd to see a small bit of normalcy from someone so eccentric," Robin commented further as she saw a normal looking sized cottage.

Disarray chuckled as he expounded, "I like looking out and seeing what changes I made, not experiencing it myself. Plus, I made sure the inside was stranger than reality. Come along now, I have food and drink. Plus, one of your crewmates might be here."

They all followed him inside, all with different levels of wonder at how… BIG, the whole place seemed to be.

"I-It's a bit bigger than Kaya's mansion… But it looked so small from outside!" Usopp exclaimed as he looked around.

"You live here all by yourself in this big house?" Chopper wondered as he also started looking around.

A twinge of a frown could be seen for a split second on Disarray's face, but soon vanished with a small smile. "Hard to find this island in the first place, not to mention the extreme weather conditions and odd monsters that help protect it from other kinds of pirates."

"Really now? Then your protections suck," The group turned and found Zoro leaning up against the nearby wall, smirking a bit.

Disarray chuckled a little. "I take it you took the long way around and fought a few of my hybrid monsters? This island is kinda brand new, and you guys are the first ones to actually arrive on my island. The rest were too scared off from the crazy weather they could see."

Nami raised an eyebrow at the seemingly changing story that Disarray was going with, but a hand on her shoulder and a look from Robin said to leave it be for now. The same was done for the rest of the crew."Let me show you to the kitchen and sleeping areas and let yourselves be at home here!" Disarray led them on, oblivious to the subtle messages the crew was getting.

"A kitchen, huh? What kind of stock is there and what kind of seasonings?" Sanji asked politely as the group made their way, making sure Zoro stayed close to the group.

"Hm? Ah yes, that. I've managed to stock up on lots of vegetables and fruits. Meat options are a bit more limited, as I'm slowly turning vegetarian for health reasons. Otherwise, I have lots of different spices used to make my meals a bit more spicy. I don't mind you using my stock, it's quite easy to replenish them. If anything, you can use up whatever meat I have left. Ah, before I forget, here's the key to the pantry," Disarray explained as he pulled out a copper key, a loaf of bread on the end of it.

"Kinda obvious where the key goes… Then again, you ARE all alone on an island, so I guess stealing isn't much of a problem," Usopp commented as the group finally made their way to the kitchen.

"Ah, here we are! Pantry is thataway, guest bedrooms are right above the kitchen. If you need me, I'll be around up on the third floor. Ciao!" Disarray smirked before he vanished into thin air, most likely teleporting up.

"Huh, that's a bit odd to see," Zoro calmly stated, not seeing the teleporting beforehand. "I know he's got some booze here as well, just not in that pantry of his."

"So Robin, what exactly was this super secret that you and Dis knew?" Franky asked, causing everyone to turn to Robin.

"Well, if you must know… Dissy also hypothesized that due to the abundant power the Chaos-Chaos Fruit had, there must've been an actual demon locked away inside it, ready to unleash the full force of chaos once inside a host. Like many demons, it could be exorcised, but having to deal with a Devil Fruit user in order to banish it out seemed like too much of a momentous task," Robin explained while everyone listened, Sanji while cooking dinner for the crew.

"That chills me to the bone… Even though I'm now all bones. Yohohohoho!" Brook spookily joked as Chopper, Nami and Usopp seemed to feel the exact same way.

"B-But he said that the problem had been s-solved, right?" Usopp whimpered.

"He said he took care of it… But from the sound of things… That may not be the full case. While indeed he looked completely normal, he also looked a bit nervous about something," Robin thought back to when they were talking with Disarray.

"Plus, his story kept on slightly changing. At first he said it was a brand new island, but then he said that he experimented on the local wildlife. He says that pirates never landed here until we came along, yet he also said that pirates have landed before. He's trying to cover up something, I just know it," Nami frowned as she thought back to the different conversations about the island they had with him.

Chopper's fur bristled a bit as he thought of one memorable moment in particular. "When I asked if he lived here all by himself, I thought I could see a different emotion for a small moment… W-Was he mad at me for asking that?"

Robin giggled as she petted his fur. "Of course not Chopper. Dissy could never be mad at someone for too long, unless they tampered heavily with his work. Even then he'd ask them to help him recover it or pay the price in manual labor needed for his experiments."

"Ah, I've been meaning to ask: Why Dissy? It seems like such an odd nickname," Nami turned to Robin with a slightly confused look on her face.

Robin just smiled and giggled a bit. "Just because it gets such a funny reaction out of him. Plus, I was very young and the name stuck."

Sanji fumed for a small moment while finishing up dinner for the crew. 'Why couldn't Robin, who has eternal grace, give me a cute little nickname to call me by?'

"Oi, shit-cook, give us the food already."

"What did you call me, moss-head?!"

"You heard me the first time, pervert!"

Nami sighed as they started to fight again, Sanji keeping the food from spilling as Zoro made sure that his sake didn't spill either. "Even in a stranger's house they'll fight like cats and dogs."

"Though their balancing act is pretty good," Brook commented as he sipped from his tea cup.

"All in favor of leaving this be…" Usopp deadpanned as everyone, including him, raised their hands.

It was at that precise moment Luffy came flying in through the door, a wide grin on his face as he smashed into both Sanji and Zoro, Zoro's drink landing perfectly on the table without a single drop missing as the dinner Sanji was making landed right back onto the stove, cooking peacefully. All three of them crashed into the nearby wall, which seemed to bend back like rubber, much to the shock of almost everyone, and quickly sent them barreling headfirst into the opposite wall, which was as hard as wood.

"LUFFY YOU IDIOT!" Everyone but Robin and Brook yelled at Luffy, who in turned laughed like he had the time of his life.

"So this is where everyone went off to! I was getting hungry, so I tried to see where everyone went. Now Sanji, make me food! I'm starving!" Luffy boisterously asked as he sat down at the table eagerly.

"Yeah yeah, settle down, it's nearly done. Just give it a little bit to finish cooking," Sanji replied, pulling out and lighting a cigarette.

In another part of the mansion…

The shadow chuckled quietly, but darkly, as he observed the whole entire Strawhat crew gathered in the kitchen. Yes, the time would be perfect to strike and make headway to the New World. After all… he would be INVINCIBLE.

Later in the day: with team 7

Mission underway

The trees that team 7 was hopping through were cool and sweetly scented, a blessing to those traversing them. Thankfully, most of their route would take them overland and not through the desert or mountains, just plains and forests. Ame would take the better part of three days to arrive at, so they wanted to cover as much ground as possible before calling it a night.

Shadows passing by in blurs is what the average person would see, and there weren't many people to see them make their passage through the land.

Truly, there was very little conversation between the six of them as they went, but it was a comfortable silence. Mostly since they were wondering at their leader's words. Occasionally the silence was peppered with insults being tossed back and forth between Naruto and Sai, Sakura only intervening if it got to be too much. Or Yamoto if he thought he needed to step in, giving Sakura a break here and there.

Masika and Kakashi were silent, but ever watchful. It wouldn't do to get ambushed on a peaceful mission. They'd never hear the end of it for certain.

Kakashi knew damn well that Masika had extended a bubble of sorts around them; he could feel the shift in the air. He figured that Naruto or Sakura probably didn't or couldn't feel it. Yamoto was more than likely just as aware as he himself was. Sai on the other hand….The copy nin snuck a glance to the silent young man behind him. Sai probably knows. After all, he and Masika bonded. He chuckled inwardly. He was one of the few people in the know about Sai and Masika.

Yamoto was simply trying to keep the peace. He'd almost forgotten that Team 7 could be quite the handful. Dark eyes looked over the Team. Each one is troublesome in their own way. he sighed internally, sharing a look of exasperation with Sakura. It was a sentiment echoed by many.

"Hey kaka-sensei?" the whiskered blond asked as he bounced alongside his team leader.

"Hm?"

Naruto tilted his head in a questioning manner. "What exactly are we going to do in Ame then? I mean, I know we need to check progress with stuff and all, but why is it that we're really going?" He finally asked what they all wanted to know.

Kakashi considered his former student seriously, proud of the fact that the young man managed to ask the big question first. "Well, for one, we need to scout out certain areas: remember all the Akatsuki sightings? Many have been centered around Ame, and our Hokage wants to make sure we're not walking into a trap or worse. We'll announce ourselves to the Mizukage at some point, but for now consider this a recon mission."

Sakura looked deeply thoughtful, deftly navigating the trees. "Tsunade-sama mentioned something to that effect. This mission to check things is just a smoke screen? Won't they be expecting that?"

It was Sai who responded, absently branch bouncing. "Yes and no. Yes, but they will think it's being paranoid on their part. Right?" He directed the last part to Kakashi who chuckled.

"Correct, so we still have to be careful. The Mizukage expects us to announce ourselves in four days, so we have a small bit of wiggle room." Kakashi acknowledged lightly.

Masika cocked her head. 'Recon only? But why? Hasn't the Mizukage been honest with us?'

Sai relayed what she asked and Sakura hummed. "Many think so-but all the same, I'm pretty sure they know something about the Akatsuki. Why would all those sighting happen in that area and yet have no sort of response from Ame shinobi?"

Masika scowled ever so slightly. 'I see. I've never met the Mizukage, and Ame was merely a village I could do business with occasionally. It wouldn't surprise me if Ame was keeping secrets, but something of that magnitude? Unthinkable.'

Sai sighed. He understood what she was saying. "Again, that's true. Ame wouldn't be able to keep a secret that large so concealed unless…"

Naruto scowled fully. "…Unless they're in on it."

Yamoto took it all in quietly, his own thoughts churning around. The team had a good point, Tsunade had been wise enough to brief him before the mission. The wood user simply listened at the moment, drawing his own conclusions.

Kakashi let it all settle into his thoughts. His team did have a point; one that their Hokage had thought of briefly-hence why she sent them out. He was proud of the fact that they were working it out though. His eye crinkle smile was missed by the other four. His ex students were not only strong, they were fairly smart too. 'Heh, even Naruto has proven himself quite shrewd.' he chuckled to himself, absently noting that night would soon be upon them.

He could feel the slight shift in the air; the humidity spiking ever so slightly.

Sakura picked up on it. "Whew-it feels like it's going to rain or something!" bright green eyes turned to look over to the silent member of the team. "Masika? Is this your doing?"

The silent young woman nodded. 'It's just me-don't worry.' She motioned around them. 'I can't sense anything out of the ordinary yet, but you'll know when and if I do.' She flashed a smile at Sakura. 'Don't worry: it's not going to rain.'

Kakashi and Yamoto caught that and Kakashi laughed quietly. The ANBU captain grinned, not bothering to hide his amusement. That was definitely something Kakashi would tease his former student about later. Trust Sakura to be worried about rain. He sighed inwardly. Then again, no one liked traveling through rain; even he avoided it like the plague when he could.

Naruto snorted. "Good to know. So what did you do? Make a chakra bubble or something?" he addressed Masika with his usual megawatt grin

Masika gave him a cat's grin and shrugged. 'Or something.' She agreed evasively.

Yamoto and Sai exchanged looks. Not everyone knew what Masika could really do. Naruto ought too, but the knucklehead ninja probably wouldn't catch on for a while longer, even though he had spent quite a bit of time with the silent girl in the year he'd known her.

Sakura hummed. "Or something huh?" Masika flashed her a grin and Sakura shrugged. Masika would tell them or she wouldn't, either way it was fine. Sakura understood very well that Masika was just as aloof as their sensei. Maybe even more so.

Sai knew, but he wasn't going to say anything on the matter. It wasn't his skill to explain. He did find it a bit funny that Naruto didn't quite know how Masika operated. It provided endless bits of entertainment for Sai.

Truly, as the day progressed, the six of them made splendid time traveling as they did, going to ground as the trees began to thin out. At the pace they were going they could reach Ame a day and a half early, maybe even two- plenty of time to do some scouting.

It was Sakura who spoke up this time. "So where exactly are we starting then? In the city of around it?"

"Around it. There are certain areas that have held numerous sightings so we are looking around those places." Yamoto hummed, thinking it all through.

Kakashi lifted a lazy hand in agreement. "True, but we also need to extend caution. I'm pretty sure those areas are being monitored by Ame nins as it is."

Masika frowned, electric blue eyes flashing. 'That simply makes it even more suspicious. Why would they add more suspicion to themselves? They are already under scrutiny because of those sightings- why would they send out shinobi to watch those places? If they're in on it and trying to cover it they're doing a very poor job of it.'

Yamoto scowled slightly. "There is that. They are behaving oddly, of that there's no doubt. Hence recon."

"Still. I get the feeling that something big is coming." Sakura sighed, the battle senses honed ruthlessly were chiming louder as they got ever closer to the city of rain.

Naruto could sense it as well; the kyuubi was stirring restlessly as the mere mention of the fearsome organization and the fact that sightings were occurring around their mission. It bothered him greatly the more he thought about it. With a frown he remembered something from a few months back. "Uchiha bastard senior once told me that nothing was sacred when it came to Ame and that nothing should be taken at face value with them."

Everyone shot him startled glances. Uchiha Itachi never said anything without reason. To give a warning, to an enemy no less, was darned peculiar. Especially considering that he was one of the top fighters within the Akatsuki.

Naruto growled softly as he added: "He also said that they keep secrets within secrets." his own blue eyes flashed in anger at the memory. He had lost that particular fight, and it still rankled.

"When was this?" Yamoto asked, brows high black eyes wide.

"Ah-the bridge incident by Cloud." Naruto hummed. "You filled in for Kaka-sensei that mission remember? Uchiha Bastard senior used a genjutsu."

Sakura nodded. "I remember that. He talked to you then?"

"Yeah." the blond ninja nodded over to his teammate.

Kakashi mulled it over seriously. Uchihas were notorious in playing word games, but Itachi...he was a different barrel of fish altogether. The man was cold blooded and despised his former village, and it bothered the jounin that the criminal would do such a thing. Especially because of the fact that they were after the nine-tails container: one never dropped warnings like that unless they had another agenda- one that no one else seems to know either. It was baffling to say the least.

Sakura's jade eyes settled into deep thought, mind at work. Truthfully she was coming to the same conclusions that her former sensei had and she didn't like it one little bit. The Konoha defector who was a part of the Akatsuki clearly was up to something. 'Then again- maybe it was an order-? Maybe he was ordered to cause a distraction of some kind?' she mused aloud now. "Do you think it might have been an order of some kind or something to cause doubt?"

Yamoto gave her an approving glance as did Masika. "That very well could be." the wood user agreed.

Naruto shook his head though. "Didn't feel like that. He deliberately sought a private audience, making sure to keep his partner in the dark."

That got brows to bounce. "...Up to something." Yamoto murmured.

'Very much. One wonders what that man is up to.' Masika agreed with a small frown.

Kakashi shrugged. They'd work it out later. For now they still had ground to cover before setting up camp.

As ever we (Myself and Devontis) own nothing of Naruto or One Piece.

We will try to update once or twice a month, but work and college come first!

If you have questions, please PM us!

Thanks for understanding!


	3. Collision iImminent

Chapter 3

An Epic Showdown! Luffy vs. Disarray(?)

At night…

Everyone was soundly asleep at this point, with the guys in close rooms snoring loudly while the ladies were in a room together, sleeping nicely due to Disarray's quick thinking and begging on Nami's part for a silencing dome in the room. The dinner went on spectacularly, Disarray being a charming and polite host, everyone soon enjoying him… that was, except for Nami and Zoro. Nami for learning about the unfortunate side-effects that had seemingly vanished without any explanation as to why. Every time she tried, he smoothly changed the subject and would refuse to answer any point-blank questions. Zoro, on the other hand, felt something… off, about the house and on Disarray himself. Like a demon was around, only behaving much like a cat would and would only come out on it's own terms.

This caused Nami to eventually toss and turn in her bed, before eventually waking up and unable to quickly return to sleep. The outside looked like it was still deep into the night, but she didn't quite trust in that due to Disarray's Fruit. She soon left the room to go explore a bit, cringing at just how LOUD the guys could snore. She walked around aimlessly, trusting her senses could lead her back to her room if she got too scared to continue on or if she got lost. She then came to a room that looked like behind the door was glowing an ominous red color, like a big lantern that gave off red light. She froze in place, terrified at what was behind the door, so she didn't open it, but instead put her ear to the door to listen in better. And what she heard shocked her even worse.

Inside the ominous room…

"It's time, Disarray. I've had my fun being away from you, but I've found something MUCH more interesting to play with," The shadow smirked as Disarray glared at it.

"No way in hell. I rather like being in control of my own damned body, thank you very much. Also, these are nice people, especially for pirates. Besides, they have us completely outnumbered by 9 to 1. And some of them have their own Fruit powers, might I add, about half of them in fact," Disarray almost snarled at the shadow.

"True, true… But we have the whole power of CHAOS at our command. We can easily take them on, especially if we take out the weaker ones first," The shadow rebutted.

"Ha, as if there's a weak one in that crew," Disarray scoffed.

"Well then.. GUESS I'LL HAVE TO SHOW YOU!" The shadow them shot straight into Disarray, causing him to yell in pain and fear.

Outside the room…

The scream caused Chopper to wake up, which then the guys followed suit with someone waking up Robin before they all followed the noise. When they got there, they saw Nami shrieking in total panic as the door then burst out of the hinges at the opposite wall, turning into chocolate milk on impact. The crew got inside and was stunned at the sight of their host Disarray.

His whole body was twitching erratically, like someone had just shocked him, but he was still upright. His eyes quickly swapped from normal to insane, his teeth growing and shortening from fangs to regular human teeth, all the while he was cocooned in a light blanket of red air, looking a lot like his raw magic.

Robin was horrified, "Oh no! Not this! I know exactly what's going on! It's-"

She was cut off from a cane coming out of a side and yanking her by the throat to another room, the door, quickly shutting and locking itself tight before chains wrapped around the front of it.

"Tsk,̢ tsk̀,̶ Ro̴b̧i͞n. Ńo ͞sp̀oiling t̴he ̨sųŕpr̶i̶se," 'Disarray' chuckled darkly as she seemed to have calmed down now, stretching out a bit.

"ROBIN-CHWAN! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY YOU BASTARD! Collier Shoot!" Sanji roared as he attacked 'Disarray', eyes flaming with fury.

'Disarray' simply chuckled as he held out a palm and calmly defended with, "Chaos Chaos Wall!", which shot up a wall right in front of Sanji, seemingly easy to break down.

However, as Sanji's foot connected, his foot quickly sunk into the wall before shooting him out to the opposite wall. Quickly, Sanji righted himself as he glared murderously at 'Disarray', who had taken down the wall. The rest of the crew were in varying states of emotions right now, the most prominent ones being Usopp's, Brooke's and Chopper's panic, Nami's shock, 'Disarray's' smugness, and the rest of the crew seemingly blank-faced.

"Now,͏ wh̀o'͢s̛ n̡e͏xt? ͠M̕aybe̢ ̷t͠h͜e͏ ͜l̷ong-̕no͞s̀ed͟ ̕onè.̸..́ Or ̛t̨he ̧ta̶lk͘i̛n͢g͘ rei͞nd͝e̶ȩr.̴.. ̶M͡a̧y͟be ̢even̴ ͘the̢ ̕crb͞o̕rg͘! Óh, ̛s͝o̸ maǹy̶ ͡c̡h̡oic͡es͡…" 'Disarray' thought out loud as he scared the three even more while the rest of the crew started to glare at him.

"Oi. What did you do with my nakama," Luffy asked calmly.

"Oh̴, ņow̧h͜ere͏ s͘p̛e͠cial. ͡Just ͢a̡ b͠o̕ring ́ol̢d duşt̕y ̸r̡ǫom͝.̧ ͘T͏h̶o͟ugh̡ I̧ d͢o͢ ͜h͢a͏v͡e̕ ͡pl̶a͏n̸s͞ to ̧ma̸ke͞ ̢i͟t a ̡des̶ert of sugar̨ can͡e,͢" 'Disarray giggled as most of the crew started to grab their weapons slowly, Sanji and Luffy stretching themselves a bit.

"W-Who are you? You're clearly not Disarray! He wouldn't do something this terrible!" Nami spoke up, shaking in fear and anger as 'Disarray' laughed, a bit madly.

"Ẃha͠t̵ ͏a ćleve̕r̡ g̶irl̸ yóu͝ ͠a̷re. Bu͞t͟ whilę dece̵pti̕on ͝ìs̸ ̢só muc͞h ̡f̕u̸ń, ̢it'̴s st̸arting͜ ̨t̴o b̢e͞co͘m̢e ͘a bad̶ j̢o̕k͞e͜,͡ a͏nd ̨I ̡dǫn;͝t͡ ͟l̷ik̴e͜ b͡aḑ ͡jok͏e͞s̨. M͡y name͏.̴.. i̛s Kóǹton̸.̨ A̴ ͘p̸lea̛s̛u̕re ́to c̷ause tro̴u͡b̸le͠ ͡f͡or͘ a͜l̕l͘ óf yǫu͠," Konton took a small bow as he smirked viciously.

"What did you do to Dis?" Luffy growled at Konton.

"Oh͏, t́h́a̶t ̴wèa̧kling͘ an͟d ̶idio͠t̨ o̧f a Fruít̡ u̶ser͢? ͟He͘'̶s al̕l͢ ̶lock͞ęd ̡up nice͟ and͟ cozy li͡k̸e, ̧foŗced̕ ͝ţo ͢watc̀h as̶ I ̧us̢e ţh̡i̛s Frui͜t ṕo͝we͢r ̢lik̶é ͠i̡t̨ ̵was ̶m͝ea͟nt ̛t͠oo," Konton laughed maniacally as his hands started to glow ominously red.

Luffy cracked his knuckles as he got into a ready position. "Then don't mind if I kick the crap out of you."

Disarray laughed again as he slashed the air in front of him, bringing him and Luffy to the outside world. However, instead of cheerful and chaotic, it was terrifying insanity. Hybrids of terrifying creatures swam about the land as the weather changed irregularly from extremes, such as from a torrential thunderstorm with crackling ground lightning quickly to a large hailstorm with a sun-baked ground.

"What the- What happened to the rest of my nakama, you bastard?!" Luffy yelled as he glared at Konton.

Konton shrugged and cheekily said back, "L͜a͘s̛t͟ ͢I ̴c̕h͟e̡ck͜e͜d, th̵ey̕ we̸re ͢st͞il͢l ̨ba̢ck ͟in ̨the ro͠om͡,́ m͟o̸s̕t ͏lik̢èlý ̢un͟t̀o͜u̸che̢d. ̢F̴or ǹo̵w at͝ leas̕t̶.͝ ̨B͜ut̵ eńou͏gh talk̛. ̸Let́'s̶ ͏fi̶gh͠t͟! Chao̷s ͠Chaos B̶ea̛m͏!"

A beam of red light then burst from his hands, ricocheting off of thin air randomly as it made it's way to Luffy. However, Luffy quickly moved out of the way of the path, causing it to miss at first. He gave a small shout of surprise when the beam just simply reflected off the air behind where he was last and went right at him again.

"Rubber Rubber Balloon!" Luffy quickly inflated his stomach as the beam finally found it's mark, sending him back quite a bit and deflating him, but looked no worse for the wear.

"Rig͘h͝t.̧.. Rubb̴e̡r̕ Fr͢u͜it ̛Po͟w͏ers͘... ̕A ̡m̵ist̸ake I̡ ͟w̡o͠n't ̛be̴ r͠epea͠tiǹg,̢" Konton murmured as he pulled out a strange sword seemingly made from a hodgepog of metals, but still deadly sharp as he pointed at Luffy. "N̡ow ̨let͏'ś ͝s̢e̢e ͝her̵ȩ..̕. On͡e ͟Sw̴or͢d̛ ̸St̴y͡le:͟ Bit̀in͝g ͏Vi͡p͟er͠!"

He then jumped at Luffy, circling him rapidly as he tried to cut into Luffy like a viper's fang. However, Luffy managed to dodge most of the attacks and respond in kind with another, "Rubber Rubber Balloon!", pushing Konton back a few meters as the air quickly fled Luffy.

"Im̨pressive..͞.͟ ͝T̢ơo ̵b̴a̕d͝ w͢e've ͜o͏n͝l̨y j̴ust̶ ́b͟egún.̛ ̡Now,́ ̨l̢e̸t's ̴see i͘f ̛t̵h͟i͢s̨'ll̴ ̴w͝o͡r̛k̕.͞ ͠Òne̡ ̧S̸wo͏r̶d̸ ͜Stỳl͞e:͞ ͢Fox ̵T̷ra͏p͟!͝" Konton grinned as he ran towards Luffy again, seemingly slashing his sword both at the air and very randomly.

It was only when he got close that he managed to form an inescapable pattern of slashes that Luffy quickly got caught in, much like how a fox would trick it's prey. Unfortunately, at least for Konton, it relied on being light and nimble, so no deep cuts could be made right away. This saw Luffy immediately try to find a way out through power, which somewhat worked.

"Rubber Rubber Gatling Gun!" Luffy roared as he started punching the sword with his bare fists, causing the attacks on his body to just now be focused on his fists, which easily soaked up the damage before forcing Konton to jump back.

However, this proved to be a mistake, as Luffy took a stance and said, "Gear: Second!" He then started to steam all across his body and looked ready to kill. He then quickly shot an arm back and shot it straight at Konton in a blink of an eye, yelling, "Jet Pistol!" This caused Konton to fly back before being stopped painfully by a tree made of popcorn, which collapsed all around him.

Konton slowly stood back up, eyes now a glowing red as he pulled out a regular Marine cutlass. "Th̵͠e̵͘͢s̢e͘͜ ̸gam̡͡͝è̡s͜ ̸͜e͟͠n͟d̶́ n͟ó͘w̨,̷ ̛wò̵r̵͜͡m̛.̕͡ ̢͠T̨͏ẁo ̀͟͡Şw͜or͘d̕͞ ̧̢͜St̢͏y̸l͘è: ͠Į̸͠n͢s͏̷ą̨ne ͏B̛͠ad͢ģ͜͠er!̧͘͞" He then roared as he quickly attacked Luffy, going faster than before as he tried slicing Luffy up into little rubber pieces.

Luffy, however, was able to keep up with Konton, quickly using his Jet Gatling Gun attack, much like before, with nearly the same results. However, it looked like Luffy was tiring out, as was Konton was. Eventually, Konton's eyes widened as he grimaced, landing on one knee suddenly as Luffy's Gear: Second ran out, causing him to drop.

"I͝ţ se͟èms͞ thi͟s wi͜ll be̕ ͟s͝e͜ttl̨e̴d̕ at ̸a ͟lat̶er̢ da̕te̵.̢..́ C͟h̸a͞os̨ C̡haoş T͞e̕ļe̶p̷or̸t̀!" Konton quickly vanished in a cloud of purple rain, as Luffy tried to breathe and get back up on his feet.

It was at that moment the rest of the crew came crashing through as they looked all around them, seeing the deadly changing weather of chaos still active.

"What the hell is this?! D-Did Disarray d-do all th-this?" Usopp stammered as he look at the destruction caused by this small clash.

"Not……. Dis…… Konton……… Bastard demon………" Luffy wheezed out as he unsteadily climbed onto his feet.

"Huh. Looks like he uses a sword as well. Wonder how good he is…" Zoro observed the deep and light cuts made on the ground and surviving fauna.

"Is this really the time for that?! He nearly killed Luffy!" Nami cried as she clung tightly to her bo staff.

"I must admit… This was a new development. Normally that demon wouldn't even bother to hold back this much. He must've decided to call it quits early while the match was a tie," Robin commented calmly, though looking very nervous.

It was then that the island started to shake violently, the earth starting to split apart. Chopper was the first to cry it out, "E-E-EARTHQUAKE! GET TO THE SHIP"

It was then suddenly a mad dash back to the ship, Zoro carrying Franky carrying Luffy over his shoulder as Nami grabbed hold of Zoro to make sure he was going the right way towards the ship. Chopper quickly jumped into Robin's arms as they started to move, causing Sanji to glare a bit at him before deciding to yell at Chopper after they had fled the island. Soon, everyone made their way through, though it was tough as the island was collapsing all around them, causing objects to fall in front of them, to which Sanji quickly kicked out of the way to make the path clearer.

They had all jumped onto the ship just as the island broke in half like a ship, and sank into the sea. Soon, there was nothing left of the island, not even a magnetic presence, leaving behind no trace except for a foam shaped symbol of chaos, which quickly disappeared as well.

"That… was… scary…" Usopp, Chopper, Brook, and Nami all shivered as they realized just how close they were to being sucked into the island's sinking.

Robin, for once, nodded slightly with them, seeing her old friend and teacher from her days past, along with seeing him being possessed by the demon once more. Franky nodded a bit as well, seeing the captain so close to death on a sinking island would do that. As for Sanji and Zoro… well…

"What did you say to Nami, moss head? I know you must've said something to force her to take your hand!"

"I didn't do anything, Pervert Cook!"

Nami groaned as they started bickering and fighting like they normally would, seemingly unaffected by the time spent of the former Island of Chaos. She then quickly had the crew get back into their positions, bonking both Zoro and Sanji on their heads violently to get them moving. They then set off towards their original course of Sabaody, leaving behind their time on the island. However, they should've realized that this was indeed, only the beginning… but this was of a new adventure, that would take them to a new world, with new abilities and new enemies and allies.

Team 7 camp

one day out from Ame

Keeping his senses spread out, Kakashi signaled for a stop. Truly they had made very good time and by late evening they'd reach their destination. Not bad at all.

By sheer chance they had found a cave to spend the night in. True it showed signs of being an active area, but the traces were at least a week old. "We'll camp here tonight."

Yamoto nodded, eyeing the cave carefully. "I can reinforce it if you'd like. This place looks like it sees a bit of traffic."

Kakashi hummed. "Minimal effort though. No telling who'd notice and who wouldn't." the younger jounin in nodded and carefully set up one of his jutsus.

Naruto sniffed the air. "There's water close by. I'll fill canteens and see if there's fish or something."

Sakura nodded. "I'll get firewood and do a quick scout out." the two chunins vanished into the surrounding craggy forestry.

Masika waved a hand slightly. 'I'll keep watch for the moment.' She scaled a tree, effectively invisible. They could all feel the slight shift in the air that meant that her "bubble" was settling into place - a formidable defence for certain.

Sai nodded over to Yamoto. "I will assist you. Chibi and Hag will appreciate dry ground."

Kakashi snorted. Sai's habit of nicknames hadn't abated in the slightest. However by now if you knew the quiet young man you'd be able to tell that it wasn't out of malice. Now it was more along the lines of a running joke that brought a sense of camaraderie to them. Now he laughed softly. Sakura would definitely appreciate dry ground. So would everyone else. Not that they would actually say as much.

Setting down his pack he dug out a sealing scroll. This scroll had rations sealed in it and since they could have a small fire tonight, this would be a good hot meal. He knew it would be a nice reprieve from cold meals and bland beverages.

Naruto dropped down into the tiny clearing noiselessly, holding all six canteens and six decent sized fish. "Water and fish." he informed his team leader with a tiny bit of glee. His grin was foxlike as ever.

Yamoto chuckled. "That will be a nice addition to dinner. Just set them over by the entrance for the moment."

Naruto nodded and did just that, perching on an out of the way boulder, simply extending his senses out to get a feel for the area.

Sakura also returned in short order, carrying two large armfuls of wood and tinder. "I'd wager this area sees lots of shinobi activity- I found traces everywhere- the most recent being roughly three days old." she passed the wood over to Sai who began to set up a small fire.

Kakashi and Yamoto exchanged glances. "Then we'll just have to stay alert now, won't we?" the silver haired jounin called up to Masika. "Anything?"

The blue haired young woman dropped down noiselessly and signed out a negative. 'Nothing for now. But there might be a few teams traveling within a few miles of us- the animals are jumpy."

Yamoto shrugged. "Unless they get closer we shouldn't worry about them. So , dinner and an early night?"

Sakura shrugged. "The sooner we get there, the more time we'll have to investigate."

Kakashi smiled. Ah, his students were doing quite well. "I agree. Extra time won't do us wrong."

'Then I will put up a genjutsu.' Masika motioned out. 'Just the general area so we don't have to worry about testing limits.'

Naruto snorted. "Yeah, not like last time. I'm pretty sure baa-chan will kill us if there's a repeat of that incident."

Sai lifted a brow the smallest fraction. "Wasn't that mostly your fault? You did manage to scare those civilians half to death, while making our enemy laugh so hard they fell off the cliff."

Sakura was doing her best not to laugh at her exuberant teammate. Masika doing the same as Yamoto tried hard to keep a neutral face. It was true for the most part, but the genjutsu user whom had accompanied them that time had done a shoddy job of it- oh the Hokage had been furious that day.

Naruto scowled deeply, even as he jumped up and began stalking toward the ex ROOT agent. "Oh yeah? And who was it that didn't clear out the civis in time?"

"Careful dickless- the jutsu doesn't hide sound." came the cool retort.

Naruto growled "I'll show you dickless you popsicle!" his hands went to his belt and Masika stepped in, smoothly stepping in between them, hands making placating motions.

'Now, now, no need to do that. All's in the past and we learned from it, yes? Come- go sit, dinner will be done soon.' she flashed a sweet smile at them, careful to keep a non combative energy.

It took a moment or two of a staredown before Naruto huffed in annoyance; Sai glancing down and away. "Tch." the blond ninja stalked away, into the cave area and settled himself with irritation.

Masika shook her head slightly before looking up at Sai. 'That wasn't nice.' she told him through their bond.

Black eyes met electric blue and the ex ROOT member sighed imperceptibly. 'It's just too easy sometimes.' he admitted a tad bit rueful.

Masika rolled her eyes in wry amusement. 'I realize this, but really - we don't need him stripping to prove a point.' she laughed, hand slipping into his. Sai just smiled, eyes full of mischievous impishness.

Sakura, Yamoto, Kakashi and Naruto observed the silent exchange. "What a pair." the anbu captain chuckled softly.

One lone black eye crinkled. "Subtle too." he offered, deftly tending to their dinner.

Naruto grinned as he sprawled back against the wall. "Sure are. If you don't know you'll never know."

The pinkette gave her knucklehead teammate a shocked look. "You actually know what you're talking about! Are you getting sick?" she leaned over to put a hand to his forehead.

The older jounins laughed as Naruto blushed and swatted Sakura's hand away. "Jeeze Sakura-chan!"

The green eyed medic chuckled and accepted a stick of fish that Yamoto passed over.

Swiftly, Masika set up the jutsu, flying through the seals with the ease of much practice. Her companion simply observing her work. Then the remaining two team members stepped into the cave as well, settling themselves comfortably.

'I was wondering.' the silent kunoichi began. 'Why didn't Tsunade-sama send out another team secretly? One team could have been the one the Mizukage focused on and the other could have worked unhindered.'

Naruto and Sakura exchanged glances, they were curious too.

Kakashi let his younger counterpart dish up the rest of dinner. "Good observation. It's safe to assume that Ame would expect something like that so most likely they've bulked up security. One team has more efficiency than two- more mobility as well."

Naruto frowned a bit, arms folding. "Isn't that dangerous though? Extra help would have been a better option right?"

Sakura tapped her chin in thought. "I don't believe so. Not in this case. We want Ame to suspect as little as possible and we assured the Mizukage that only one team would be sent out. It's a double edged sword."

"It's true. If we had sent out another team, Ame could have killed them off without repercussions or even captured them and held them prisoner. They'd have every right to do so. Now, with just one team, they can do no such thing. To do wrong unto the team sent with an official message between Kages would be tantamount to war. Ame could probably afford that, so could Konoha to be honest, but our allies can't. Ame itself would be fighting alone if war were to break out." Yamoto unexplained as he passed out cups of hot tea, everyone listening.

Naruto's brow scrunched as he ate. "Huh."

Masika stilled, focusing her senses. Something had just walked into her bubble. Something that was alive and shinobi. She lifted a hand, eyes distant as she figured out direction. 'Someone just entered my field. A shinobi. This genjutsu is light, they'll sense it if they come here.' she informed them as she slipped out of the cave. 'From the South West of our position. They're not moving fast.'

Quickly food was sealed away and camp dismantled. "Up." Kakashi commanded quietly.

Six blurred shapes sprang for the trees, as chakra was masked and camouflage produced. Five and a half pairs of eyes watched their surroundings, sharp and alert to anything unnatural.

The Konoha nins didn't have to wait long. Shinobi senses began to pick up the sound of footsteps. Steady and unhurried. Male, from how heavy the tread was. There, walking into their clearing came a shinobi alright, one who was heavily henged and tightly wrapped. Their chakra was masked hard, the henge solid.

Masika frowned. 'I can see a shape of some kind. Big, very big. Strong to. There is a very high chance that this one is indeed Akatsuki. We should not engage.' her signing was utterly silent, not even a whisper of air gave her away.

A tendril of cold ran down their spines at their teammates' words. The rumors obviously had some credibility: they were seeing first hand proof right now.

Kakashi scowled. 'How much can you see?' carefully he asked, watching the other shinobi walk.

'Enough to know that this person is dangerous. I see blue and lots of chakra and height, but it's very blurry. This henge is good.' Masika admitted, eyes a bit worried.

Sai had one hand around his (short sword) perfectly still, but ready to move in an instant.

Yamoto was just as coiled, he could feel the burn of chakra in his finger tips just waiting to be unleashed.

Naruto was glaring at the figure below them, hardly daring to breathe. Rage fed the nine-tails, who in turn slowly stirred within his prison. He hated the Akatsuki as much as anyone.

Sakura was trying to pick apart the henge, but was having little luck. Her water-inclined teammate was right. This person was good. She could barely see the tell tale marks that would usually denote such a disguise, and that was saying something.

Kakashi frowned. This only confirmed their suspicions that Ame was probably in on it. There was no way Ame nin wouldn't notice. Especially when someone like that was walking around. Blue was what stuck out in Kakashi's mind though. To his knowledge there was only one member of the Akatsuki that was blue. Hoshigaki Kisame. If that was who was walking through their area now, there was no way they could have taken him on. Not for a recon mission. Then his brows furrowed. If this was Kisame, where was Itachi?

It was Sakura who waved. 'I think he's alone, plus there's no other chakra mixing with his right now.'

Masika confirmed this. 'Right. He's alone. Has been for a day or two.'

Yamoto lifted a brow, but filed his question away till another time.

The nuke-nin finally got some distance away, far enough that Kakashi felt comfortable enough to nod and motion 'Let's go. We'll camp elsewhere.'

Swiftly six shadows raced away, the barest of rustling leaves denoting their departure.

As ever, Myself and Devontis own nothing of One Peice or Naruto.

We will try to update twice a month, but work and college come first.

If you have questions, please PM us!

Thanks for reading and Thanks for unserstanding!


	4. Chapter 4 Sailing for Changes

Chapter 4

Luffy and his crew were enjoying a peaceful day outside. It was sunny and bright out, everyone was lounging around. It was nearly peaceful.

Rikyu sighed happily, enjoying the peace and quiet for once. No Marines were in sight, there wasn't a gang of pirates after their tail, and they were heading off to Sabody at a pretty decent pace, and they had managed to escape very recently from an island full of wonder and horror. He still was a little worried about what had happened to Disarray… Konton… whoever he was, as all they had to go on was what the captain had said: that he disappeared. It wasn't as if they could go back and check the island either, since it was completely gone now. He just hoped they wouldn't have to see him again as he looked up at the bright and sunny sky.

It soon began to change, at quite a rapid pace too, making Luffy, who was also looking up at the sky, very confused.

"Hey Nami, why did it suddenly turn dark?" Luffy turned to the navigator, Nami, since he knew she knew a lot about weather stuff.

Rikyu now was slightly nervous as well as confused, as he was still not quite used to rapid shifts in the weather on the Grand Line. This one seemed far worse than usual though.

"Nami, did you ever check the Log Pose to see if we were headed in the right direction?" Rikyu asked, sounding slightly worried.

"Of course I did! What makes you-" Nami was ticked off about the crew's lack of faith in her abilities, only to be stopped as she paled while looking at the Log Pose and yelled, "Oh crap! We need to get this ship out of here before-"

A strong gale of wind blew away her words as it started to rain heavily on the ship, with thunder and lightning going off around the ship as well.

"Oy! Why'd we sail into a thunderstorm? That's not really SUPER." Franky yelled up from underneath the deck.

Rikyu was up in a shot alongside Luffy, looking around worriedly at the storm even more. It was then that he saw something that changed his mind about one fact. "Um, that's not a thunderstorm..."

Usopp looked out and panicked, causing Chopper to do the same as well. In front of the ship, coming from seemingly out of nowhere and sucking the crew in with no way out was a... "HURRICANE!" The hurricane then sent them high skyward, very much like the time they rode the Knock-Up Stream to Sky Island. This caused Usopp, Nami and Chopper all to remember that horrid time that was getting to Sky Island and make them cling onto the nearest and tallest object. Zoro seemed to have awoken and was yelling in confusion, clinging to the crow's nest as Sanji came barrelling out of the kitchen, only to then grab onto the main mast. Robin and Rikyu's actions were to cling to the side of the boat, while poor Brooke was planted down by three people clinging to him.

The surrounding area of Ame

Team 7 investigations

Team 7 had arrived close to Ame. It was obvious this place was busy and the fact that it was so busy and yet had little friction with the Akatsuki was a bad sign all around.

The issue was that in the evening before they had almost been found by an Arm or possibly an Akatsuki nin. Whoever it had been had put some serious effort into keeping their chakra low and level- a skill not many actually possessed. It had made them all wary and fully ready to spring into action if needed.

Naruto scowled as they perched in various trees and ledges. "So many sightings, and yet so little action taken. Something's up." his whiskered face was serious and calculating.

The elder jounin didn't like it either. "Right. The more I see from this place the less I like it. We need to be very careful. More so than usual."

"I don't like it either. Three way split?" The wood specialist asked with a small frown.

Kakashi gave it serious thought. Yes they'd cover more ground, but his gut was telling him no. There was something seriously not right with this place. If they split in two though….it still wasn't a good feeling but it was better than a three way split. "No. Half and half. Yamoto, Sai and Sakura you three will go east."

Sakura nodded and slipped on her gloves, doing a quick check to make sure everything was in place.

Sai shrugged. He understood the reasoning behind the split up.

Yamoto also nodded. "Send a clone to check up say-every hour?"

"Absolutely." the sharingan user ordered. "Let's go."

Two three nin groups split away from one another, each in another direction.

Naruto followed Kakashi, keeping to the jounins' left. He kept his senses fully extended, the nine-tails even putting effort into it. He may have hated imprisonment, but it was infinitely preferable to what the Akatsuki had in store for his being.

Masika kept to her captain's right, focusing on what the air was telling her. Most people shinobi and civilian alike didn't know this, but people left chakra trails. Each signature was as unique as a person's scent and carried in many different ways. The air around this place was positively laden with residual chakra, and it made the silent nin nervous to find so much of it heavy and oppressive. Truthfully, she could actually see the wispy remnants of the stronger chakra. It wasn't a skill anyone outside of Sai or Ibiki knew about. Electric blue eyes flashed as she kept pace with her teammates. She'd mention it to Kakashi. Maybe.

Kakashi was on full alert as they went. He was almost certain Ame was stalling on their end of this very rocky alliance, and that Ame and the fearsome group of S-Class criminals were in cahoots somehow. His gut was telling him that much for certain. What he was less certain about was if this mission was going to escalate. He seriously wondered if Ame was going to engage in all our war. It might very well end up that way considering how...charming...they were. Right now though, information was power and power led to victory.

Meanwhile Yamato, Sai and Sakura went a different way. It was a bit nerve wracking to be honest, to be investigating something that had the potential to blow up in all of their faces.

Sakura most certainly did not like the face that Ame was clearly gearing up for something big; all the signs said as much. It was also clear that the Shinobi of Ame were keeping its civilians very firmly in the dark about what was actually going on.

That never boded well for anything.

Sai simply hoped that war wasn't the end result. Much as he had been trained, brutally and efficiently, he did not like the idea of pitting his Village against another of equal caliber. For that end, he'd do everything in his power to see to the safety of his Village.

Yamato also had the niggling worry, but also the thought process of his elder jounin. Akatsuki was subtle and often moved in the shadows, far more than most shinobi did. He had the suspicions that there was some serious power backing the mysterious organization, but to what end, he couldn't fathom.

Hence recon.

The wood jutsu specialist also had the thought that Ame wasn't actually going to follow through with the treaty. It seemed like a stall to the ANBU Captain. That only served to keep her extra alert.

One never knew what could happen.

Myself and Devontis have both been extreemly busy as of late, so we thank you for your patience!

We will try to update as we can, but work comes first, unfortunatly. Devontis has had issues thst needed to be resolved with college, and that took quite a bit of time and my work schedual is...odd.

Once again, Thank You for your understanding!

We own nothing of One Piece or Naruto-though we'd like to...

Ah, Masika and Rikyu are simly there, not unduly important, but there nevertheless.

If any readers have questions, feel free to ask!


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